


Living Dream

by mediumtwinkle



Category: Raven Cycle - Maggie Stiefvater
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-10-12
Updated: 2017-10-11
Packaged: 2019-01-16 07:34:17
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,673
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12338286
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mediumtwinkle/pseuds/mediumtwinkle
Summary: Just some short little prompts involving Ronan and Chainsaw.





	1. Nightmare

**Author's Note:**

> There are a couple of phrases in Latin and I used google translate so there's no telling if they're actually right. Here's the translations I had in mind:  
> 1.) What are you doing?  
> 2.) What are you looking for?  
> 3.) Danger!  
> 4.) Take me with you!  
> Sorry about any confusion! I tried my best.

There was a chill in the air, the kind that is never in Virginia for very long before moving on somewhere farther north. The night was quiet and calm, not a car in sight. The trees swayed slightly in the breeze, dancing along with the cool wind to the symphony of crickets and cicadas that came up way too early for their own good. The stars were so bright in the sky they looked like if you reached up far enough you could grab a handful of them. That if you wanted to, you could rearrange the stars in brand new constellations, creating your own shapes in the sky and tearing apart the old ones. An old church stood tall in the blackness, lights turned off for the night, as it was not expecting visitors at this ungodly hour. It was one of those nights that you don’t want to disrupt. One of those nights that seem holy and sacred. One of those nights that seemed like it would last forever in quiet solitude, never disrupted.

And then Ronan Lynch appeared.

His brain was fuzzy from having been drinking far too much for someone his age, and he was only pretty sure where he was headed. There was a bottle in his hand, and he had managed to walk from Monmouth Manufacturing through this unbreakable night to get to a place he would be able to rest in. Sometimes all it takes is a change of scenery to bring about half decent dreams instead of the terrors he was usually faced with. Sometimes he just needed to get away in case he accidentally brought something back he didn’t want to. In case he got hurt in real life. Make sure he was alone when he woke up so if something had happened, he could take care of it before someone found him. Gansey had freaked out enough the last time, he doubted he could come up with another clever lie. He stopped and looked at the church, confirmed that it was the place he had wanted to go, and walked into the building.

Once he was inside, he found the pew he and his brothers always sat in every sunday, and clumsily fell into it, tucking the bottle close to his chest and spreading himself out on the pew as if it were a much more comfortable piece of furniture. He took a few minutes to actually do so, as the pew was in fact not a piece of comfortable furniture and was in fact very splintered and hard. He had always considered the possibility that this was the punishment for sinning, having to sit on these pews for a few hours each sunday. It seemed very accurate now that he was drunk and lying down. He felt his eyelids start to droop, his body relax, and slowly, slowly, he allowed himself to fall into sleep.

When he opened his eyes, he was in the forest. He didn’t know where this dream world came from, as he had never really been this far into a forest, and he would have remembered if he had been in a forest like this, but this had always been his dream world, and he decided a long time ago that it doesn’t matter anyway. His brain made up enough shit as it is, he didn’t doubt its ability to create a forest. It seemed darker than it had been in the real world. It wasn’t any more dark physically, it just felt more sinister. More ominous. The branches on the trees reached out like arms, waiting to grab someone who walked by without knowing their intentions. Ronan walked a little farther into the woods, he seemed to be searching for something. Now that he was asleep, his mind was clearer. The alcohol didn’t affect his brain in the dream world. He had always felt that was unfortunate because most times that’s when he needed it the most.

There was a rustle in the bushes, and Ronan slowly turned around to investigate the noise. As he got closer, a young girl appeared out of the leaves. Ronan seemed unconcerned, and he even turned away as the young girl approached, as if he was certain she would follow him. He was, of course, certain. The orphan girl appeared often in his dreams, and was always quite content to follow him around. He almost felt bad; she had to live with the horrors in his head. It was only when he remembered that he had to live with them too that he remembered not to give her too much credit. 

“Quid vos facitis?”

“What does it look like I’m doing? I’m walking.”

“Quid quaeritis?”

“I don’t know yet, but I was hoping for some quiet while I looked.” Ronan picked up his pace, knowing he couldn’t shake the orphan girl off his tail, but figuring he could try or at least look more angry while he walked. The girl gave him a nasty glare which he gladly returned, but she stayed silent, following Ronan like a sheep, which wasn’t that hard to imagine because she did have hooves instead of feet. 

Ronan really wasn’t looking for anything in particular. He couldn’t really control what he dreamed, he just found things he thought might be helpful. An epipen for Gansey, an extra key to the BMW. Tonight, he was kind of just in the mood to make it out of the dream realm without dying. 

The trees grew still. Ronan hadn’t noticed a breeze, but there must have been one because the whole forest seemed to have grown still. Or perhaps there hadn’t been a breeze and the trees had been moving by themselves. Either way you look at it, a suddenly still forest is never a good thing. He was suddenly very aware that he seemed to be standing in the middle of an opening of a horror movie. He felt the orphan girl grab ahold of his leg. Obviously she had noticed the change too. He held his breath for one second. Two seconds. Three seconds.

An impossibly loud noise carried through the forest, making the girl jump and Ronan’s heart stop for a moment. He took a deep breath, letting the air come out in a huff. Then, he walked towards the noise, preparing himself (as usual) for the worst. As he walked through the trees, he noticed the area getting slightly brighter. He couldn’t say for sure, but the forest seemed less angry than it had before. He pushed aside his brightening hopes and brought back his suspicious attitude. A still forest and loud noise had never been a good thing in the past. He kept walking until finally, he stepped into a clearing.

Ronan furrowed his eyebrows together, trying to make sense of what he was seeing. The trees were all bent forward until there was a small alcove between their trunks. A small amount of light was flooding through the branches and down onto one specific area of the ground, although it was unclear where the light was coming from. Small floating lights surrounded the area, flickering like fireflies except in a soft purple color. The mysterious sound called out again, softer this time, and it was now clear that it was coming from the patch of ground the light was shining on. Ronan took a step closer, his sharp look gone and replaced with a look of intense curiosity. The orphan girl tried to pull him back.

“Periculum!” But Ronan wasn’t paying any attention, he continued on towards the source of the noise, moving just one step at a time. When he finally reached it, he gasped aloud, not even worrying about maintaining his steely expression. In front of him, lying on the ground, was a baby raven.

She was so small, no more than a few days old. Her feathers hadn’t fully grown in yet, and her eyes weren’t even open. Ronan knelt down next to the bird, gently, as to not scare it off. He slowly reached out his hand to the creature, making sure that it was comfortable with his presence. He had a lot of experience with this, his days at the Barns giving him a lot of time to grow accustomed to approaching animals. The small raven seemed not to mind, so he took it one step further and gently pet the bird’s head. She recoiled at first, and Ronan pulled his hand back just slightly, waited a few moments, and then tried again. This time the bird didn’t pull away, and even pushed at his hand a bit with her head. He couldn’t hold in a tiny smile. He let the raven grow accustomed to his hand and then slowly brought his other hand over, repeating the process until she was calm enough for him to pick her up. 

Ronan held her close to his chest, cupping his hands around her to make sure she was warm enough. He looked around at the trees, trying to spot a nest the young bird could have fallen from, but there was no sign of one, nor was there any sign of other birds around. The orphan girl slowly gained the confidence to walk over. When she spotted the baby bird she jumped up and down with delight. Ronan shushed her and stood up gently, trying not to jostle the tiny life in his hands. 

Then, a familiar sound echoed in the distance. A blood curdling screech that turned Ronan’s blood to ice. His shoulders tensed, and he clenched his jaw.

The night horrors had found him.

The noise got closer every second, but Ronan stood his ground. If he were to run, it might be too much for the bird. He dropped to his knees, covering the tiny raven with his body, needing desperately to protect it. He heard the creatures come closer and closer until finally he felt the claws in his back. He swore a very complicated strung together jumble of curse words, all the while holding on to the small animal in his hands. 

He could sense himself coming back to the waking world. A hand shaking him, a voice pleading him to get up. It would seem that Gansey had found him after all. He let himself become more conscious, let his brain become fuzzier as the alcohol was driven back into his system. He could just barely hear the orphan girl calling out to him through all the noise.

“Suscipe me ad te!”

Then he was awake. Unable to move, but still clutching the raven. In his head, he made her a silent promise. 'Nothing will ever hurt you. Not while I’m around.'


	2. The Storm

It had been about three months since Ronan had taken the baby raven back to Monmouth Manufacturing. He’d had to fight hard to keep her, but once Gansey really had a look at the little thing, he didn’t have the heart to say no. Ronan gave her the name Chainsaw because he thought it was badass, and managed to keep her healthy even though he had to look a lot of stuff up on some really shady websites. Turns out keeping a pet raven is not something a lot of morally clean people do.

He had been taking her to school and managed to keep her quiet in Latin which is really the only class he goes to anyway. Every once in awhile a soft “Kerah!” can be heard from his bag, but nobody seems to pay any attention to it, not that Ronan cared. He would love to bring out his pet raven in Latin. He thought that she was cool, and the other kids probably would too. It’s not like Ronan was too attached to getting his diploma anyway. 

Ever since Ronan had brought her back, his dreams had been less horrible. They were still bad, and some were worse than others, but the bad ones had come less often. It was almost like Chainsaw was a little dreamcatcher, eating the bad dreams and letting Ronan have the good ones to himself. He had no way of proving this fact, but it’s what he liked to believe.

This night Chainsaw was being a little difficult. Despite being awfully fond of Ronan, she had already attempted to bite him twice, and she refused to eat. Ronan decided to leave her alone for the time being. Then, she started to yell. Now, this really meant squawk at a very loud volume, but it could honestly be mistaken as yelling. Noah came into his room with his hands on his ears. 

“Make it stop!!” He wailed, closing his eyes as if that would help any. 

“Get out of my room! Then it will be quieter!” Ronan walked over to where she was perched and tried to pick her up, but she took flight and landed at the other side of the room, squawking angrily as she did so. Gansey came in, his wireframes on and his eyes tired. 

“What the hell is that noise Lynch?”

“Chainsaw is being difficult, go back to bed.”

“I’m not going to be able to if that bird keeps screaming.”

“I’ll take care of it! Just both of you get out!” He crawled over a pile of clothes, nearly face-planting as he tripped over a leg of his jeans. He still fell, but in a more organized fashion, falling with style if you will. He reached out his foot and closed the door in his friends' faces. He could just barely hear Gansey’s sigh over all the noise. He reached over and grabbed Chainsaw from the corner. She bit at his finger angrily. “OW! Stop that shithead! I’m trying to help!” He shook out his hand and brought the raven over to his bed. “What the fuck is your problem?”

Suddenly, it was pouring. He could hear the rain everywhere, on the roof, on the window, leaking through the small crack in the bathroom/kitchen. The window lit up for a moment followed by a large rumble of thunder. Chainsaw stilled, then flapped her wings wildly. 

“What the fuck? Stop that!” Her claws were digging into his hands and he let go. This time, instead of flying away, she just sat there on the bed looking at the window with fear in her eyes. Ronan couldn’t quite tell how he knew it was fear, but he knew that she was scared. “Is it…” He stopped for a second, suddenly coming to a realization. “The storm? Seriously? Are you afraid of the fucking thunderstorm?”

The raven looked at him, and let out a small “Kerah” as a confirmation. Ronan sighed, happy that at least he had figured it out and she wasn’t freaking the fuck out anymore. He realized that the storm must have been the reason she had been being so difficult all along. Can’t animals like, sense when storms are coming or some shit?

“C’mere.” He scooped her up and put her on his shoulder. Another crash of thunder sounded from outside and her claws dug into his flesh. He winced a little, but didn’t move. Eventually her grip lessened, and she instead leaned into his neck. He reached up and pet the soft feathers near her beak. “It’s just rain y’know. You’ve seen it before.” She leaned farther in, and Ronan rolled his eyes. 

“Okay fine. Thunder is your weakness. I get it. Just don’t get your panties in a twist about it alright? I’m here.” Chainsaw flew off his shoulder and back onto the bed. She closed her eyes and stilled, only her chest moving up and down with her breathing. 

“Oh no, you are not sleeping on my bed, forget it.” He attempted to move her, but her claws dug into the blanket , making it impossible. “Fuckin- fine. Fine. But just this once okay don’t get used to it. You have your own bed.” He quietly sunk down onto his mattress, and fell asleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This one was kind of short, sorry! Again, if you have any ideas for prompts let me know. I don't bite I promise!

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first piece on here so I hope you guys like it! Comments are always appreciated, and if you liked this and have ideas for another prompt let me know and I'll write them.


End file.
